Irish Cheer Fades

By Dave Kansas

Bloomberg

After initially cheering the Irish bailout, markets have quickly gotten dour again. The second time through such exercises (see Greece) tend to cycle through the emotions more rapidly.

European stock markets are broadly lower with Ireland and Greece among the worst performing. More troubling, Spain and Italy are also among the weakest bourses. The euro-zone contagion nightmare would include the much bigger economies of Spain and Italy.

U.S. futures are mixed and commodities such as oil are lower as the dollar rallies.

The euro is down against the dollar after initially trading higher. The likely collapse of the Irish government early next year after a budget is passed has added to pressure on the euro. The thinking is that politicians will quickly lose their stomach for the common currency if remaining in the zone costs them their jobs.

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